BlackBerry Ltd Sues Typo Again–For Its New iPhone Keyboard

BlackBerry is not in the mood to take Typo’s audacity lightly and has yet again sued the start-up for allegedly copying its design

BlackBerry has yet again filed a lawsuit against Typo, arguing that the second-generation Typo keyboard also breaches its intellectual property, according to a report from the Hollywood Reporter. According to the Canadian firm, Typo “slavishly copied” its keyboard, aping even the “smallest detail.”

Typo2 violates BlackBerry Patents?

In its filing, BlackBerry said that just like the Typo One, the start-up has audaciously copied various proprietary BlackBerry designs and patents in the Typo2 keyboard.

“The Typo2 Keyboard still blatantly copies BlackBerry’s iconic keyboard trade dress designs that have been embodied in numerous BlackBerry smartphones from the 2007 BlackBerry 8800 to the current Q10 and Classic models,” claims BlackBerry in the complaint.

Further, the Typo2 keyboard also allegedly violates various some of BlackBerry’s utility patents related to its proprietary keyboard design, back-lighting and typing automation technologies. The smartphone maker said Typo has hardly made any changes to the Typo2 version, keeping it almost the same as the original Typo keyboard against which BlackBerry filed the original case. Within this new lawsuit, there is a mention of various media reviews of Typo2 describing similarities with the Canadian firm’s tech.

Typo2 no different

In 2013, BlackBerry condemned Typo’s keyboard for the first time when the start-up debuted its custom keyboard for the iPhone. The Ryan Seacrest-backed start-up aimed at creating the physical keyboard for the iPhone after coming across people who carried two phones, a BlackBerry for typing and correspondence, and an iPhone for everything else.

The first Typo keyboard developed by Seacrest was closely similar to the Canadian firm’s keyboard, which did not settle very well with the company. The Canadian smartphone maker filed a case and won an injunction against Typo’s product. Thereafter, the Typo 2 was launched, with the company claiming that the latest version did not violate any BlackBerry patents.

The Typo2, priced at $99, is more suave with a built-in keyboard that disables the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the iPhone 6. Typo made a statement that its second-generation offering does not violate any BlackBerry patents, but in reality, it also looks similar to the keyboards BlackBerry has used in its products for many years now.

The Canadian smartphone maker filed its complaint in California federal court on Monday.